This timely book provides support for secondary mathematics teachers learning how to enact high-quality, equitable math instruction with dynamic, mathematics-specific technologies. Using practical advice from their own work as well as from interviews with 23 exceptional technology-using math teachers, the authors develop a vision of teaching with…

This guidance report focuses on improving the quality of teaching of mathematics to pupils in Key Stages 2 and 3. The decision to focus on these Key Stages was made after an initial consultation period with teachers, academics, and other stakeholders. Schools are seeking advice on adjusting to a new curriculum, and there is also concern about…

Manipulative-based instructional sequences--including both concrete and virtual manipulative instructional sequences--are evidence-based or research-based mathematical interventions for students with disabilities. However, as options for manipulative-based instructional sequences increase, educators need support in deciding the best approach. In…

Perceptually rich concrete manipulatives benefit mathematics learning. Because students should be challenged to consider connections between two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) perspectives of conics (NCTM 2000), this article describes hands-on teaching techniques that promote this type of student reasoning. This article aims to (1)…

The Periodic Table of Elements is a valuable resource for chemists and all kinds of STEM professionals. However, it can be initially overwhelming and intimidating to some students. This hands-on lesson introduces abstract concepts in the periodic table through a tangible experience with simple toys and household objects. Students collaborate and…

Peristalis is a propulsive activity that involves both circular and longitudinal muscle layers of the esophagus, distal stomach, and small and large intestines. During peristalsis, the circular smooth muscle contracts behind (on the orad side) the bolus and relaxes in front (on the aborad side) of the bolus. At the same time, the longitudinal…

This document presents a step-by-step description of an activity that demonstrates how learners at all levels and all ages can use percussion and percussion instruments to support their learning of English pronunciation.

This article defines rapport in a teaching context as knowing your students, their different learning styles, and using that relationship with them to teach on a personal level. The author describes an activity using playdough. While giving learners opportunities to interact with others it naturally appeals to a variety of learning styles,…

Even though many educators are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math), science often does not receive the attention in elementary school that it should. One way to ensure that elementary school children have the science experiences they need and deserve is to use it as a context to teach…

Patterns of Change: Forces and Motion is an integrated science lesson that uses the 5E lesson cycle to tie together science with language arts, mathematics, literature, technology, engineering and social studies in an engaging format applicable for young learners. This lesson has been uniquely designed for the purpose of providing elementary…

Often, students who solve fraction tasks respond in ways that indicate inadequate conceptual grounding of unit fractions. Many elementary school curricula use folding, partitioning, shading, and naming parts of various wholes to develop children's understanding of unit and then nonunit fractions (e.g., coloring three of four parts of a pizza and…

This 5E cycle of lessons takes students through a fun and thorough study of Silly Putty's properties, progressing from an initial observation of a "melting snowman" toy in the Engage phase to making and "marketing" their own homemade putty in the Evaluate phase. Along the way, students use evidence to construct their own…

Marble tracks are a very popular toy and big ones can be found in science centres in many countries. If children want to make a marble track themselves it is quite a job. It takes a long time, they can take up a lot of space and most structures are quite fragile, as the materials used can very quickly prove unfit for the task and do not last very…

The concept of specificity of enzyme action can potentially be abstract for some students as they fail to appreciate how the three-dimensional configuration of enzymes and the active sites confer perfect fit for specific substrates. In science text books, the specificity of enzyme-substrate binding is typically likened to the action of a lock and…

Icons are frequently used in the music classroom to depict concepts in a developmentally appropriate way for students. SmartBoards provide music educators yet another way to share these manipulatives with students. This article provides a step-by-step tutorial to create Smart Icon Cards using the folk song "Lucy Locket."